


A Pencil for Pachi

by CelestialPancake



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 07:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15553086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialPancake/pseuds/CelestialPancake
Summary: Brizz was hopelessly in love with Pachi. He would steal anything for her, even the Eternal Alchemy, if he could. However, this tangible, important item of her past would be sufficient enough to make her happy. But will it help her fall in love with him?





	A Pencil for Pachi

Brizz’s heart was pounding in his chest. The tips of his ears felt hot and he could feel his fingers trembling anxiously. Never in his life had he felt as nervous as he did now. Encountering beasts many times his size and feeling the rush of infiltrating behind enemy lines was nothing in comparison to what he was going to do now.

Brizz waited from behind one of the incredibly large planters in the Crown Pavilion of Divinity’s Reach. He waited for her as she did her business in the Royal Terrace, that annoying gated off area that he had no access to. He tried following her in but the idiot guard at the gate told him he was not allowed to enter. Not wanting to make a fuss and to ruin the surprise, he had no choice but to leave. So now, he waited. But Brizz did not care. The asura would wait hours and hours for her if he had to. A big, stupid grin came across his face as he began to think about her.

Aw, his lovely, beautiful, perplexing Pachi. She was a rarity to him. She wasn’t like most asura women who only cared about the most trivial things. Pachi was an enigma. She was an oddity who would fight with her own two hands rather than hide for hours in a research lab. She was an inspiration to him that showed him that there was more to life than just staying with his krewe in Rata Sum. Her fiery red hair and piercing orange eyes captivated him as much as her abnormal approach to life did. Brizz adored her and, while just a tad obsessed, he would surely do anything for her.

That was why he went and stole _that_ for her.

Brizz looked down at his side and gazed at the bag he carried. He patted the side of the bag knowingly and stifled a laugh. Getting this item was by no means an easy task but if Pachi had ever asked him to bring her the Eternal Alchemy itself, he most certainly would try to retrieve it. However, he knew this item would make her happy, more than any intangible reality ever would.

It was a week ago when he set out on this quest for her. While watching her from afar, Brizz overheard her yelling in frustration. Her travelling companion, a female sylvari, was telling her to “get over it and move on.” He heard Pachi howl with anger and march over to the sylvari. Pachi stood on toes and her long ears arched up to make her look even taller than she actually was.

“’Just get over it?” Pachi reiterated furiously. “’Just get over it!?’ You do not understand how important that pencil was to me! I have tried every replacement since I had it taken away from me and you know what? They were all terrible! Faulty and useless beyond all comprehension!”

The sylvari shrugged and rolled her green eyes at Pachi. “It’s just a stupid writing stick. You could go up to any of these fleshling merchants in this city and purchase a new one. Now that I think of it…why do you need your writing stick? From what I have seen, most asura do their recordings on those glowy screens.”

“You are right there. Most asura do their writing on tablets because it is quicker. However, I feel this was the superior way of writing one’s ideas. The feeling and sound of hearing the _tip-tap_ against a hard surface and the precision of seeing your words in front of you in your own handwriting.” Pachi twirled away as she began to think about, her orange eyes sparkling with the fondness of old memories. “My pencil and I had grown together. It never went dull and never broke. It melded to my fingers and comfortably cushioned them as I wrote. It was beyond perfection. Oh, why am I even bothering explaining it to you?”

Unfazed by Pachi’s bizarre love for an inanimate object, the sylvari folded her arms over her chest and bent over to look at the asura straight in the eyes. “If it was so important to you, why don’t you just take it back yourself? It is yours, after all.”

Pachi sighed in defeat and her shoulders slumped over. “All of my belongings were confiscated and detained after I returned from the Mists. The Council wanted to have “a word” with me. That meant they were going to question me about my experiences while I was away. There was no way I was going to go through with that. I have been trying to get my belongings and, at the very least, my research back but I have to go through the hoops of the Council. I asked them to give me back the one thing that I needed most. But no! They are just so infuriating!”

Brizz felt his ears droop as he listened to Pachi and her companion’s conversation. He remembered those events clearly. He remembered the accident that made her disappear into the Mists, in the first place.

About three years ago, both Brizz and Pachi were working on the same krewe together. Their krewe was tasked with developing a new asuran gate. It was designed to be smaller than the traditional asuran gate but teleport items and people at a more rapid speed. At the time, Pachi was just a mere researcher and Brizz was there to help with installation of the gate. Both of them were fresh out of the College of Dynamics and this was their first big test in the real world. Brizz liked tinkering with objects and thought his dexterity was better than the rest of his krewe. When it came to Pachi, he remembered that even back then she had a very fiery personality. She was not afraid to challenge the krewe leader and was extremely confident with herself, often stepping on their toes to get what she wanted. Brizz admired her tenacity and even was a little envious of her confidence.

Then came the day of the test of the new gate. However, it did not go as smoothly as everyone wanted. The calibration to the gate was off and it opened a terrible, red swirling portal to the unknown. It tried to suck the entire krewe in but nearly everyone was able to leave the room in time.

Everyone except for Pachi.

Too focused on not letting her research get taken away, she ran back in and was sucked into the portal. Like the rest of his krewe, Brizz was shocked and had no idea how to comprehend what had happened.

Pachi was presumed dead only a few days after her disappearance and the room to the portal that took her away was sealed off for investigation for the months after the accident. Her death had been admired as a sacrifice for the ‘greater good of science’ and soon everyone moved on. Brizz could not explain it but he had trouble moving on. He would often walk by the gated-off room, their old work area. He would stop and stare at the tape and warning signs that were plastered to the door. He always felt a bit of sadness when he would stare at the doors, often wondering if she really was gone or if she was okay. It was a surprise and a sigh of relief for him that fortunate day when she did return.

Only about six months after the accident, that was when Brizz heard a noise. He was walking by the sealed off room, a ritual he had been keeping up long after everyone else had moved on. As he was walking by, he heard a loud popping noise.

Several seconds later, he heard a thump.

Several moments after that, he heard a groan.

His ears stood up and he looked around in confusion. He knew he should run and get someone but curiosity got the better of him. Brizz pressed his long ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. There was silence. He thought he was going crazy. All this time hoping that she would return and keeping this silly vigil was making him think things. He was about to move on but then-

“SOMEONE OPEN THIS DOOR AT ONCE OR, SO HELP ME, I WILL TEAR IT DOWN MYSELF!”

Brizz jumped back in alarm as the person on the other side began pounding loudly on the doors. It took his mind a moment to recognize who the voice belonged to but then it clicked. He ran back up to the door, his voice shaking with excitement.

“P-Pachi? Is that you!?”

The banging stopped just long enough so Pachi could speak in a lower, less angry tone. “Yes, it is Pachi of the krewe entrusted to make that failed excuse of a gate. Now open this door this instance!”

Brizz jumped up in joy. Never in his life had he been so happy. “By the Eternal Alchemy…You wait here, Pachi! I’ll go get someone to unlock the door for you.”

The time after that was a whirlwind of chaos, Brizz remembered. From the moment she was free, Pachi was tormented with questions. The Council wanted to run tests on her to learn if there were any adverse reactions during her time in the Mists. Pachi, naturally, rejected all attempts. She wished to catalogue her own information herself. There was no way she was going to allow them to take credit for her work. Out of anger from her lack of compliance, the Council barred her from returning to her lab and confiscated her belongings and research. That was when she decided to leave Rata Sum and began traveling around Tyria. Seeing Brizz as one of the only people around her that did not turn on her, she confided with him about her departure. He was sad to see her go but knew this was the only way for her to be truly happy.

Seeing Pachi leave, Brizz found no more joy in working with his krewe and grew bored of staying in Rata Sum. He felt a longing to see the world beyond the asuran city but he mostly just want to see Pachi one more time. That was when he decided to quit his krewe and made his way to Lion’s Arch to start a new chapter in his life.

It wasn’t easy, at first. It was hard to make ends meet and he remembered the nights of going hungry. During one of his low points and looking for any sort of work, he met an Ash Legion charr that taught him the art of thievery and how to be proficient with sneaking. His years of tinkering and building allowed him to learn quickly with his hands and he became quite skilled with daggers. His small stature made it easy for him to sneak around without being seen. The more he went on missions with the charr, the more confident he became and more their more brutish personality began to rub off onto him. He still kept in contact with that charr and would often assist him with missions, if needed. Now, when he was not infiltrating the enemies of the people who paid him or stealing anything that caught his fancy, he would look for Pachi. And that’s what brought him there today.

The pencil that Pachi had adored was simple in design and worn but had an odd magic about it. Brizz remembered always seeing her with it, even back in the days when they were in college. Of course, retrieving it would surely show her how much he cared about her! Delivering it to her would cement the idea and then he would be able to prove his unyielding love for her!

Retrieving the pencil was definitely a story in it of itself. Rata Sum’s security was tight and it would be a caper that Brizz would not forget pulling off for a while. Asura always keep stock on what was available and they routinely check to make sure everything is kept in order. That means that if the pencil was missing from the vault, they would surely know it was missing and then assume that Pachi was the one that took it. Not wanting his lovely Pachi to come under scrutiny from his own deeds, Brizz hatched a plan. Using the help of a vision crystal to clearly remember what it looked like, he was able to recreate the likeness of her favorite pencil. He used the finest ancient wood he could find, going to the deepest parts of Orr just to retrieve it. Brizz was proud of his counterfeit pencil; it shared the likeness of her old pencil and held a certain dignity to it. He felt a bit upset that it was going to spend the rest of its life in a vault but his craftsmanship would have to take a hit, just this once.

Now, all he would have to do was sneak into the area where her belongings were being held. It would be easier to carry out deed at night but it would be difficult to sneak in without a disguise. He wished he had a mesmer accompanying him to help transform his appearance but he would make do without. This was for Pachi and this was his chance to show her how much he cared about her.

Brizz travelled to Rata Sum at night. While the shining example of asuran culture and brilliance was still very much active, he knew most would not be at the lowermost part of the city near the Peacemaker’s Headquarters. Hiding in the shadows and out of sight from the other asura, Brizz went to go scout ahead. Not far from the holding cells, there was a door being guarded by two stone-faced Peacemaker officers and two golems. This must have been where any confiscated goods or important records were being kept. Brizz suspected the Council had a feeling Pachi might have considered going forward to steal her items on her own accord, hence why her belongings are heavily guarded in the first place. The fake pencil he had crafted was in the pocket of his robe. He tapped it reassuringly.

“Not going to be easy,” Brizz muttered to himself. “But no matter, I’ll find myself a way in.”

Staying under the cover of the shadows around him, Brizz looked around the area to try to get an idea on how to move forward. He could disguise himself as a guard, but that would mean subduing a guard and taking their uniform. If the guard was hid away properly, it would not be a problem but he would be in trouble if the guard came to or was found. He could just go in and fight everyone in sight, but that would alert the rest of the Peacemakers and that would be a worse outcome. There was no way he could disguise himself as a janitor or pretend to be an official of the city; the Peacemakers are not dumb enough to fall for that trick. Brizz knew he was running out of options. However, he knew he could not give up. This was his chance to impress Pachi. If he fails, his dreams would not come to fruition. The dreams of retiring from adventuring. The dreams of starting a family and having many, many progeny with her.

“Enough of this nonsense, Brizz! Pull yourself together!” He said to himself, slapping his cheeks to pump himself up. “You can do this!”

That was when Brizz got an idea. It was dumb, but an idea nevertheless. He cleared his throat and then began walking towards the guards and the golems. He held his head high to convey confidence and had his hands behind his back. The guards automatically noticed him and turned to face him.

“Halt, citizen,” one of them stated monotonously. “This is a restricted area. Vacate at once.”

“I do not believe you know who I am,” Brizz answered calmly, staring the guard in the eye. “I am here to investigate something that is being kept in the vault. It has come to my attention that something hazardous is being kept in there. Something belonging to the former researcher named Pachi.”

“Preposterous,” the other guard responded. “Her belongings have been searched with a fine toothed comb several times. There is no way anything dangerous is in there. Besides, her belongings have been in storage for nearly three years. If there was anything hazardous, we would have known by now.”          

“But do you know what exactly she has been researching?” Brizz inquired. “I was an associate of hers and know what she has seen. She was looking into dangerous plants and now is about the time they were going to bloom. Imagine the catastrophic events that will happen in our fine city if this goes unchecked.”

Brizz knew he was blowing smoke and he hoped the guards were not going to catch on. The guards both looked to each other as they tried to figure out what to do. They were muttering to each other in a voice that Brizz could not hear. Brizz felt stupid with even going through with this plan, mentally kicking himself over and over. He watched as his dreams with Pachi began to vanish as new ones of being placed in a holding cell began to take hold. Then, the guards looked to him.

“We will accompany you in the vault, but do not tell anyone of this,” one of the guards said.

Brizz was dumbfounded that his idiotic plan had worked. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before nodding to the guards. One guard took to the front to unlock the door and then lead him down a dark hallway. The other guard followed after him to ensure Brizz was not going to do anything out of order. The hallway had multiple doors that were locked, requiring a keycard for access. Near the end of the hallway did the guard stop. He slid his card through the opening and the door hissed opened. The smell of dust and age drifted from within. The room was small, dark, and had several different sized storage cubes about. The guard stepped in and Brizz followed with the other guard tailing him. Both guards stayed at the door and looked at Brizz.

“Make it quick.”

Brizz nodded and went towards the belongings. He rifled through them and looked for Pachi’s favorite pencil. For a while, all her could find with old yellowed papers containing notes from Pachi, blueprints of portals, a flute, a stuffed animal of a golem, and a radiation suit. He could feel the eyes of the Peacemaker officers on him. He had to hurry this up.

“My apologies for taking so long, gentlemen,” Brizz said. “I assure you it should be here…”

Brizz opened one more storage cube and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally found her pencil. He fumbled for the fake pencil in his pocket and began to take it out. He glanced over from the pencil and saw an old drawing of Pachi. It was almost lifelike and the attention to detail was astounding. It was of her and a different asuran female from their college days. She was smiling as she sat on top of a golem. Brizz’s heart pounded in his chest, not being able to take his eyes off of how adorable Pachi looked. He was tempted to grab the photo for himself and take it with him. She did not have to know that it was missing and the Council would overlook one photo…

“Enough! This is a waste of time. It is time to go!”

Brizz did not care. What he came to do was completed. He was escorted out of the room and taken back to the entrance of the vaults. To pull off his act, he laughed nervously and rubbed his hand behind his head.

“My apologies, gentlemen,” Brizz acted calmly. “I suppose that the experiment died long ago or it was already taken care of.”

“Do not think we will allow you to do that again,” the guard warned. “By the way, who exactly are you? You never presented identification to us.”

Brizz smiled smugly to the guards and vanished in a cloud of smoke. The guards coughed as the smoke dissipated. Once the smoke was cleared, they looked at each other.

“By the Alchemy, we should not have done that! Did the golems record any of that encounter and manage to get an identification on him?”

The guard shrugged and shook his head. “The golems were both in sleep mode since we started our shift. Its alright though, he did not take off with anything it appeared. We’ll be fine, so long as he never shows up again.”

* * *

 

Even after the event, Brizz could not believe he got away with such an idiotic plan. Of course, he knew he probably could not show his face in Rata Sum ever again but he did not care. After he would give back her beloved pencil, he would be in Pachi’s loving embrace for all eternity.

It was already nightfall. Thanks to all of his reminiscing, he nearly missed her as she exited the exclusive area. He saw Pachi and her sylvari friend leave and wave farewell to the guard at the gate. Brizz watched and listened from afar to see what the two were planning on doing now.

“I’m hungry,” the sylvari whined. “We were there for way longer than you said we were going to be there for.”

“YOU needed me to craft you a new short bow because YOU have not learned any other trade skills aside from cooking,” Pachi chided in annoyance. “You could have cooked something while you were waiting.”

“Alert to Pachi: I cannot hunt without a bow!” the sylvari said in frustration. “Do you expect me to do it with my bare hands?”

“You have your pets, they could have done it for you.” Pachi sighed and folded her arms. “Fine, we will go to an inn and get something. Just promise me you won’t drink that much cider this time. I do not want to carry you back to our room like I did last time. And the time before that…and the time before that…”

The sylvari clapped her hands cheerfully and shouted in joy. “You’re the best, Pachi! I’ll go onward and meet you there!”

Before Pachi could stop her, the sylvari ran on ahead through the busy streets of Divinity’s Reach. Pachi shook her head and began to follow after her friend. This was it. It was time to make his move. Brizz moved from behind his hiding spot and made his way towards Pachi.

“Pachi!” Brizz called out to her, trying to mask the nervousness in his voice.

Pachi turned around and made eye contact with Brizz. His face began to feel extremely warm as he saw a big smile grow on her face. She immediately walked over to him and waved her arms happily. This was the side of Pachi that Brizz loved to see the most. While he adored the fiery, take-charge asura that was Pachi, it was the warm, happy Pachi that he enjoyed the most. She gave him a tight hug once they were close enough, the action causing Brizz to freeze up. He had forgotten just how strong she was and felt like he was going to snap in half. After she was finished hugging him, she backed off. She looked at him, her orange eyes glowing with concern.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you,” she said to him. “Are you alright?”

Brizz laughed nervously and took a step back. “No! No! I am fine. Just surprised is all. That was the first time you have ever done that.”

Pachi chuckled. “I guess you could say I learned a thing or two from Lynessa. Though she only really does that with animals rather than people...”

“Lynessa? Oh, she is your companion. How have you been on your travels?”

“I have just been doing work around Kryta, for the most part. Humans cannot be trusted to handle their own problems with the centaurs. It could be solved so easily if they just listen to reason or learn how to corral centaur like the beasts they are.”

Brizz nodded at her and snorted a laugh. “Well, they are only human.”

“What have you been up to? I have not seen you for a while and I have been meaning to send you some mail but it is so hard to get ahold of you.”

Brizz felt the tips of his ears warm up. She actually cared about what he was doing. “My activities have been quite routine. I have mostly just been a hired knife and doing deeds for wealthy business owners or handling those annoyingly, simpleminded bandits. Nothing too challenging, as of late.”

“That’s impressive! I am about to go meet up with Lynessa to eat. Would you like to come with?”

Brizz froze up. He was just invited to dinner with his delightful Pachi! Of course, her loud, overly cheerful sylvari friend was going to be there but, if he just tuned her out, he would be having a meal with the love of his life. Praise the Alchemy! However, as irony would have it, while his mind thought one thing, his mouth blurted out another.

“Oh, its alright. I am not hungry.”

Pachi’s face grew a little sad and her voice lowered. “Oh, well then, maybe next time. I am sorry for keeping you. I was so happy to see you again, Brizz!”

Pachi turned her back and began walking away. Here was Brizz. Looking like an idiot for turning down a dinner with the asura he had adored for many years. Now she was walking away. There was no way he could say that he changed his mind now! Wait, he still hadn’t given her back her pencil. There was still a chance!

“Pachi! Wait!”

Pachi turned around once more. Her eyes were wide with curiosity as Brizz approached her once more.   He pulled out the pencil from his bag and held it in his hand. Pachi stared at the item in his hand, her eyes as wide as the sun itself.

“M-my pencil!” she stammered, completely at a loss for words. “H-how? W-ha-“

“I came across it,” Brizz blurted out. “I hope you enjoy it..”

Pachi brought the pencil closer to her face and examined it. She twirled it around and touched the pencil’s surface carefully. She held it as if she was about to write down something. Then, her features darkened and her face twisted.

“This is not my pencil…” she said in a low, dangerous tone.

Brizz jumped back in shock. How!? He thought he had grabbed it. But then, his memory drifted back to the day of the caper. He did not actually grab her pencil. During the time in the vault, he was distracted by the picture of her in her college days and forgot to switch the two. In other words, he had completely failed his task.

He blew it big time.

Brizz wanted to run away, scream and throw himself in the nearest river and drift after to the sea to be swallowed up by whatever Elder Dragon or supernatural force could find him. But he had to toughen up. Be a true asura and stand by his mistakes.

“O-oh…I’m so sorry Pachi,” Brizz said quietly, his words fumbling. “I-I could’ve sworn it was yours.”

“No, it’s not…because this is better than my old pencil!”

Brizz stared at her with his mouth wide open, noting how stupid he must have looked at that moment. Pachi twirled the pencil around and laughed cheerfully.

“I can hold it even better than my old one! The craftsmanship is exquisite! I cannot wait to write with it to see how it works! How did you come across this?”

Brizz’s chest puffed out proudly as he crossed his arms and laughed smugly. “Well, if you must know, I made it. I used your old pencil as a base and then was able to craft it easily.”

Pachi stared at him in astonishment. “You did!? This is incredible, Brizz. Thank you so much!”

 Brizz couldn’t believe his stroke of luck. He wanted to celebrate in the middle of the street but he held his composure. Pachi looked to the side and scratched the side of her face.

“Hey Brizz…may I ask you something?”

Here it comes. The moment Brizz was waiting for. The moment all his planning and hard work was about to pay off.

“Yes? What is it, Pachi?”

“I have been thinking…”

_Yes?_

“…would you…”

_YES?_

“Would it be not much trouble to ask you to craft a few more of these beautiful pencils?”

_What?_

“These are wonderfully crafted and I would just like to carry some in the event if it gets misplaced.”

“Sure, absolutely. I will craft it at this very moment.”

Brizz could not believe the words that just came out of his mouth. But it was too late. Pachi was cheerfully jumping up and down, praising and thanking him. Before he knew it, she was gone again. He had messed up, once again.

Brizz lowered his head and began walking towards the crafting hub of the city. However, he wasn’t truly disappointed in himself. He promised himself to make the best pencils for Pachi and that he would out-do the one he had just given her.

There was still time to win her over and he would try his hardest until the day came. Anything for his lovely, practical Pachi. No words written or spoken could ever encompass the love he had for her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
